Possibilities

"It was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me..." Genesis 45:8.

Those are the words of Joseph. You know, the boy with the coat of many colors that became second only to Pharoah in power. His story is found in Genesis, chapters 43 through 45 and is one of my all-time favorite stories.

I'm going to present you with a slightly different version of this story. Don’t worry! I’m not going to twist scripture but I’m going to tell you a version of this story as I IMAGINED it could have taken place. Many of you may be familiar with the story of Joseph, but I’m going to do a quick review.

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Joseph’s story started with a dream. Actually, it was two dreams to be exact and the revelation that Joseph had the gift of dream interpretation. The first of the two dreams were of his ten older brothers and his one younger brother, bowing before him.

The second dream was of his entire family, including his parents, bowing before him. Keep in mind that Joseph was only seventeen at the time and in his immaturity (and possibly PRIDE) he shared those dreams with his older brothers. He was already his father’s favorite so needless to say, sharing the dreams made Joseph even less popular with his big brothers.

As a result, the brothers began to plot against Joseph. They already disliked him, now they hated him. They wanted to kill him. Reuben, the oldest brother, decided they would not kill him. Instead they would just put him in a pit. But one day, when Reuben was away, the younger brothers were plotting to kill Joseph again. Judah, brother number four, talked his other brothers into selling Joseph into slavery instead of killing him. They dipped Joseph's coat of many colors, into the blood of an animal and allowed their father to assume the worst – that his favorite son had been torn apart by a wild beast. In the meantime, Joseph was taken to Egypt where he became a slave in Potiphar’s house.

Let’s pause here a moment. Can you imagine yourself at the age of seventeen, on the cusp of adulthood, dreaming of the future you might have? Now think of how Joseph might have felt at this young age, being sold into slavery. He went from being the favored son to a slave.

His new master, Potiphar, was a powerful man. He was a General in Pharaohs army. Through all that happened so far, I want you to keep in mind that scripture tells us that “God was with Joseph”.

Even though Joseph was now a slave, Potiphar liked him and Joseph was given charge over all the other slaves. As odd as this may sound, this was God’s favor shining down on Joseph. However, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph and cried rape when he rejected her. Potiphar believed the lie and Joseph was imprisoned.

At some point after he was imprisoned, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners, the cupbearer and the baker, that came true. Just as Joseph had interpreted their dreams, the cupbearer was released and the baker was executed. As they were being taken from the prison, Joseph asked them to remember him. But of course, they didn’t. At least, not right away. Joseph remained in prison for two more years.

Around that time Pharoah had two dreams and none of his advisors could explain them. Then one day, the baker remembered that Joseph had interpreted his dream correctly, so Joseph was brought before Pharaoh and he explained his dreams to him.

Joseph told Pharaoh that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph's reward for interpreting the dreams was that he was put in charge of everyone and everything in Egypt. So, at the age of thirty, Joseph began his rule as second most powerful man in the nation.

In the first seven years all the excess grains were gathered and put into storage in preparation for the famine that he knew was coming. As Pharoah’s dreams had foretold, the famine began in the eighth year.

It was during the second year of the famine that Jacob – now called Israel - sent his ten oldest sons to Egypt to buy food. It was Joseph himself, now at the age of thirty-nine, that the brothers had to stand before, begging to buy food to keep their families alive.

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I’ve set the stage. Now I ask that you imagine yourself in Joseph's place. Think about the emotions you might have felt along his journey.

When I read Bible stories like Joseph's, my mind looks at it from all the angles. That's the analyst in me. I like to consider all the possibilities that could have occurred. And I consider the costs that were weighed with each choice. Through Josephs life story, we can witness a lot of possible outcomes, both good and bad. We see the end result in the scripture in Genesis, but let's consider what Joseph had to go through to get to that final decision. First, we know that he had the possibility of being an overcomer, because he was. He had the possibility of enduring trials and being able to rise above them, because he did. He had the possibility of being horribly mistreated and yet, choosing to forgive and love with the truest, Agape (Godly) love, because that is exactly what he chose. I’ve heard Joseph described many times as a “Type of Jesus”. You may have heard that before yourself. But let’s be clear; Joseph wasn’t Jesus. He was fully human. He was not divine in any way.

I’m convinced that Joseph struggled internally with the rejection he had encountered, just as any human would do. The hard reality is that in walking out your faith – especially if you work in a ministry - you will experience rejection, just as both Joseph and Jesus did.

In Joseph's story, arriving at such positive possible outcomes after being treated so horribly cannot be done by human strength. It's a battle of the flesh against the Spirit. It’s a battle that only the Spirit can win. Because keep in mind, those were not the only possibilities Joseph had been presented. He had the possibility of exacting every kind of revenge imaginable on these men who had mistreated him. He became a very powerful man. He had the possibility of destroying the lives of those who betrayed him, as well as the lives of everyone they loved. These brothers who had wanted him dead, along with their families! He had the power to destroy them all. Remember that he had total control of the store houses of food in Egypt. He controlled who would eat and who wouldn’t.

He had the possibility of ridding himself of the burdens of ten lying, cheating, murderous brothers. He could have had them all put to death. With his conniving brothers out of the way, he had the possibility of having his father and little brother, Benjamin, all to himself. In the world's economy he would have been justified by any of these possibilities. I was reading the part of the story where Simeon, one of Joseph's brothers, had to remain behind, imprisoned in Egypt, while the other brothers went to retrieve the youngest, Benjamin. Keep in mind, it was a two-hundred mile journey from Caanan to Egypt, which would have taken them ten days, more or less, on the backs of donkeys. So, at the least, Simeon would have been held for twenty days. But Jacob was in no rush to let his sons go back to Egypt, which didn’t bode well for Simeon. The older boys knew they couldn't return without Benjamin, so Simeon got to sit in prison for quite a while. It wasn’t until the food stores ran low that Jacob sent his sons back.

The Bible doesn’t specify how long, but I’m thinking months, with a possibility of a year. It was during this time, this waiting period, I imagined Joseph venturing down to the dungeon to observe this brother of his. Imagine him standing in the shadows, gazing at this man that had wanted him dead. This man that was the symbol of so much pain, confusion, shame, rejection... Consider the inner turmoil that Joseph may have been struggling with. He was human. He had the same fleshly temptations that you and I have. I’m certain his mind went back to the time he had been so terribly mistreated by this brother - by ALL of his brothers.

So, yes, I believe he likely considered ALL the alternatives. I also imagined Simeon, chained up, deep inside the very same pit his little brother Joseph had lived in for so many years. I imagined that as Simeon gazed around his confinement, there carved in the wall, maybe it was the name of a former prisoner. "Joseph" Hmmm, he might have thought. "Joseph - I knew a Joseph once. A long, long time ago.. " As his mind drifted back many years, would he have thought of the boy he and his brothers had rid themselves of? That nuisance of a boy. "Nah, surely it wasn’t our Joseph...my brother. Could it be?" Granted Simeon had no idea that this man who had now imprisoned him was the boy he had betrayed. Sitting there in the pit, would Simeon have remembered his sin against his little brother that he and his brothers had imprisoned? Would he have felt any remorse for his sin against Joseph? At the same time, I also imagined Joseph sitting above the pit, looking down upon this "man" who had come from the same father as he did. They had the same blood running through their veins. I Imagined that as Joseph gazed at Simeon, locked up, just as he once had been locked up, that maybe, just maybe, he might have considered revenge. This one who had betrayed him. This one who had been so full of jealousy and hatred toward Joseph, that he didn’t care whether his little brother lived or died. This one who sought gain by selling his little brother, for twenty shekels of silver. And remember, Simeon had to share that with nine other brothers. That means that he had sacrificed his little brother's life for a measily two shekels of silver!

In terms of today's money, what would be the value of the biblical half shekel? Well, it is impossible to know silver's value in biblical times. At today's rate of approximately seventeen US dollars per ounce, eight grams of silver is around five dollars.

Let that sink in. If a half shekel is worth five dollars today, then that means that each brother got around twenty dollars each for the sale of their brother. That's ALL that Joseph's life was worth to them.

I can't help but wonder what was going through Joseph's mind at this time. I personally think he experienced all out spiritual warfare. Again, put yourself in his place. Did Joseph contemplate keeping Simeon there for as long as he had once been imprisoned? Did he contemplate selling Simeon into servitude or even making him HIS servant for the rest of his life? Did he consider killing this brother and then lying to the others upon their return? He could have told them that Simeon had fallen ill or met with some freak accident!

Maybe in his heart he thought, a life for a life! Did he consider doing the same thing to each of the brothers that had betrayed him? Let's face it, the possibilities of his revenge were numerous! Had he sought his own justice, Joseph could have lived out his days with his younger brother and father all to himself. But let's not forget, the Spirit of God was with Joseph. Leviticus 19:18 says, “Stop being angry and don’t try to take revenge. I am the Lord, and I command you to love others as much as you love yourself,” and Proverbs 25:21 says “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink.”

This may seem like a really hard thing to do. In our own strength, I believe it's impossible to do. I know this to be true! In my past I tried and failed miserably. Human nature craves revenge when we've been wronged. But if you have the Spirit of God living in you, His grace empowers you to rise above the injustice of this life. God’s grace working through you, allows you to respond with a supernatural love that is unexplainable to the human psyche.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 12 It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age... Just as Joseph's flesh could have been thinking "Revenge!", so was the Spirit impressing on him to love, to forgive, to restore! I believe the Spirit of God was speaking to him. God might have spoken something like this…

"Joseph, you have the power, through Me to have your whole family back. I allowed them to do the things they did, because I have a much greater purpose for your life. They were just the tools I used to get you to where I wanted you. It was me, your God, that chose to use their sin against you, to refine you in the fires of life!" Had Joseph chosen to exact revenge, even though he would have become physically free, he would have remained in spiritual and emotional bondage. What Joseph realized and ultimately chose, was the possibility of being MADE by God. Not by himself and certainly, not by man. We like to think we're in control of our own lives. I’m sure you’ve heard the term “he’s a self-made man”. That's one of the biggest fallacies of mankind, that we can be self-made. God gives us the ability to make choices, but it is He who orchestrates the events surrounding those choices.

It was Joseph’s understanding that he was made by God and for God’s purposes that he was able to overcome all the pain that had been inflicted on him in his youth. He had seen God’s hand at work in his life. Even in the toughest of times.

We all know how the story ended. After all the possibilities he had, Joseph chose the way of the Spirit. He chose the narrow way. The hardest way. Yet it was the way of life.

When you find yourself in Joseph’s shoes and trust me, as a believer in Christ, you will, after considering all the possibilities, what decision will you make? What path will you take?

During my healing process, almost twenty-five years ago, one of the exercises God put me through was searching the scriptures on the subject of His love for me.

He revealed to me that I truly didn’t believe He loved me, even after all the healing He had taken me though to that point, I still did not receive God’s love the way He intends for us to.

In my search, I found myself reading through the story of Joseph. It was quite revealing. As I noted in the earlier part of Joseph’s story, when he was in prison, the scripture states, “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.”

It doesn’t make sense to our flesh, does it?! He’s in prison, yet He’s favored by God. You would think if he was truly favored by God, then the Lord would have long delivered him from prison. But that’s not how God works!

God had clearly anointed Joseph’s life in childhood and blessed him with prophetic dreams, yet He allowed his brothers to sell him into slavery. Now he was in prison because he tried to live righteous and ran from Potiphar’s wife when she tried to seduce him!

I found myself relating to Joseph’s plight. A kid, anointed by God, unjustly treated, in a prison (mine was a mental prison), and sexually abused. But there was something different between Joseph’s story and mine.

I saw how God was with Joseph through every situation. He made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. He put him in charge and caused everything he did to succeed. God was faithful to Joseph. So, what was different from his story compared to mine?

The difference was that Joseph, even though he most likely experienced all the same emotions I did, he stayed faithful to God, no matter what he endured. At all those points of decision he chose the path of life.

However, I did not. When life threw hard stuff at me in my youth, I made the choice to fall into pity and anger. I chose the path of death. God showed Me that it had been MY CHOICES that led me down the path I had taken. While Joseph chose righteousness, regardless of the situation he found himself in, I took the opposite path. I chose unrighteousness.

It all began with my first choice to not forgive but to allow that anger and bitterness to take root. But I was a kid, right? I didn’t know any better, right? Well, Joseph was a kid too. Just as God was with Joseph all those years, He was there with me too.

In my book, Faith & Forgiveness I detailed how many times as a child, a teenager and young adult that God tried to reach out to me. But my stubborn anger and self-centeredness pushed Him away.

Again, it was MY choice, not God’s.

Joseph also looked at the suffering as a way to grow in God’s love. God had given Joseph future vision – the dreams – he knew deep down God was doing something.

I looked at the suffering as a way that the world and even God was tormenting me. I looked only at the moment and missed what God was doing for my future. God allows suffering to come into our lives to break us, to increase us and to draw us to Him, so that we can be a light to draw others to the eternal kingdom. God continually demonstrates His love for us. Sometimes it hurts, but the suffering helps us to grow.

Now, the question for you today is, what prison walls are there in your life that God wants to break down? Walls that either you created yourself or someone else created for you.

Do you have doors that haven’t been opened and you’re questioning God, “Why?”

Is it possible that there’s someone from your past that you need to extend forgiveness?

Is it possible that you may have created a lot of hurt in others and need to seek their forgiveness?

Whether you’ve been inflicted by someone else or have been the one inflicting pain on others, unforgiveness is a prison. It’s time to break free.

When you find yourself in Joseph’s shoes, after considering all the possibilities, what path will you take? Consider the possibilities and choose wisely.